Elon Musk on Relationship with Daughter Who Legally Changed Her Last Name: 'Can't Win Them All'

The Tesla CEO's 18-year-old daughter Vivian legally changed her name in June after saying she doesn't "wish to be related" to her dad

BEVERLY HILLS, CA - FEBRUARY 26: SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends the 2017 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Graydon Carter at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on February 26, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images)
Elon Musk. Photo: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

Elon Musk is opening up about his estranged relationship with daughter Vivian.

In a new interview with Financial Times, the Tesla CEO, 51, said he believes his daughter — who legally changed her last name in June from Musk to Wilson — no longer wants to be associated with him because of the supposed takeover of elite schools and universities by neo-Marxists.

"It's full-on communism . . . and a general sentiment that if you're rich, you're evil," said Musk, who is a dad of 10. "It [the relationship] may change, but I have very good relationships with all the others [children]. Can't win them all."

Musk's comments come six months after Vivian filed a petition to legally change her name and gender.

In her original petition, filed on April 18 — shortly after her 18th birthday — Vivian included a short sentence explaining her request for the changes. "Gender Identity and the fact that I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form," she wrote, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

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Elon Musk
Elon Musk. Randy Shropshire/Getty Images

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge granted the teen's request to legally change her name to Vivian Jenna Wilson on June 22, court records showed. (Her new last name is the maiden name of her mother, Justine Wilson.)

The judge also recognized Vivian's gender as female and ruled for the issuance of a new birth certificate to reflect the changes, per the docs.

Vivian is one of five children whom Justine Musk shares with the 50-year-old businessman, the richest man in the world. The former couple share twins Vivian and Griffin Musk, along with triplets Kai, Damian, and Sax, who were born in 2006. Their first child tragically died when he was 10 weeks old from sudden infant death syndrome in 2002.

Musk also shares 2-year-old son X Æ A-12 and daughter Exa Dark Sideræl, 10 months, with ex Grimes, 33. The Tesla founder also secretly welcomed twins with Neuralink executive Shivon Zilis last November.

Elon Musk attends TIME Person of the Year on December 13, 2021 in New York City.
Elon Musk. Theo Wargo/Getty

In the past, Musk has been vocal on Twitter regarding his opinions about preferred pronouns for transgender and nonbinary people.

After being criticized in December 2020 for a since-deleted tweet seemingly mocking the use of preferred pronouns, the SpaceX CEO said that while he "absolutely" supported transgender people, he believed "all these pronouns are an aesthetic nightmare."

Nearly five months prior, in July 2020, Musk tweeted, "Pronouns suck."

In May 2022, one month after his daughter's court filing, Musk said that he plans to vote for Republican candidates moving forward, specifically showing support for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who signed the controversial "Parental Rights in Education" bill, denounced as the "Don't Say Gay" law, in March.

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